[mikael]

Afternoon everyone. I dug around old threads and think I know what the issue is, but I'm pretty low on cash and want to try and pinpoint it as much as possible. I was able to grab some audio, and if you have a minute could you give it a listen?

The clunk sound is constant. It's not as bad at higher speeds, but still very noticeable. It's coming from the passenger suspension. I just did a refresh with new mounts and bearings. This is happening on 2001 Wolfsburg.

I'm thinking it's the sway bar...

Ah, I'm below the post threshold so I can't post a link... sigh.

 

[Skimmer0220]

jack the car up and grab your sway bar links, pull relly really hard and see if you have any play in the joints. Sway bar end links are very typical for suspension clunks

 

[mikael]

Meant to get back to this thread, but crazy workweek. So when I installed the coilovers I did a refresh on the sway bar links. At first that's what I thought it was as well.

Turns out, it wasn't. Yesterday I jacked the car up and was removing the passenger coilover (the clunk side) to see if I somehow assembled it incorrect. Did a double check of everything, yanked on the tie and sway, checked the control arm and ball joint bushings. All good. Removed the sway linkage, and began to jack the car up. I'm used to the passenger side being a bit of a pain when it comes to actually removing the strut assembly. Welp, it slid right out of the knuckle as soon as I started removing the pinch bolt. I can easily insert the strut into the knuckle without the use of a spreader. Not good. There is a good .5 inch gap even when you torque the pinch bolt back on. Grrrr.I was able to bend it back to shape some, but this is a very temp fix as you can still hear some clunking and the we all know what happens when metal bends like that.

Basically, the strut was moving inside the knuckle this whole time. I've never run across this one before, so there's that. I've got a new knuckle on the way with a new bearing, because why not.

If there's anything to take away from this, it's that my subfloor is definitely torqued to spec now, along with every other suspension component. Every bushing also got a very invasive inspection.

Has anyone else ever experienced this before?

 

[Skimmer0220]

well, that's a new one, I've never heard or seen that one before. With the pinch bolt tightened all the way down is there still a gap in the back of the steering knuckle? also did you purchase these coilovers new?

 

[mikael]

The coilovers are new. I think this is post damage from the suspension I had on earlier that was "MKIV" but in actuality wasn't. I think the larger footprint warped the pinch on the knuckle.

Even with the pinch bolt torqued down, there was still a gap. I heated the knuckle a bit and was able to close the gap but not to spec and ya know metal memory. The gap didn't match the driver side, but was pretty close. I took the new pinch bolt and torqued it to spec and the clunk was way less noticeable, but I can still hear it.

So new knuckle should make this a thing of the past, but wanted to follow up the post because this was new to me, and if it helps someone in the future... awesome.

And thanks Skimmer0220 for joining me on this journey. I'm new to VW's so any assistance is great. There's a big difference between Nissan's and VW's.... imagine that!!!